Holy God, We Praise Your Name (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 414)
1 Holy God, we praise your name;
Lord of all, we bow before you.
All on earth your scepter claim,
all in heav’n above adore you.
Infinite your vast domain,
everlasting is your reign.
2 Hark! The glad celestial
angel choirs above are raising;
cherubim and seraphim,
in unceasing chorus praising, fill the heav’ns with sweet accord:
“Holy, holy, holy Lord!”
3 Lo, the apostolic train
join your sacred name to hallow;
prophets swell the glad refrain,
and the white-robed martyrs follow;
and from morn to set of sun
through the church the song goes on.
4 Holy Father, holy Son,
Holy Spirit, three we name you,
though in essence only one;
undivided God we claim you
and, adoring, bend the knee
while we own the mystery.
Text: Source unknown; Music: Katholisches Gesangbuch; Public Domain
Devotion
In our age of information, it’s easy to feel that if we just take some time to wade through the available facts, we can find an answer to just about anything. This certainty is fed by the research capacity of the internet, and the incredible power of artificial intelligence.
But the longer I live, the more I’m aware of our limited understanding. Whatever youthful confidence I may have had about my capacity to understand the world has softened. Life is so complex, and I see overconfident people causing others so much pain.
I’ve become more comfortable with the mysteries at the heart of our faith. How do we know God exists? Does the Doctrine of the Trinity explain anything? Is there evidence of life after death? Did Jesus physically rise from death? I’m content to confess, and not completely know. And with the congregation sing, “and adoring bend the knee, while we own the mystery.”
Prayer
Praise Be to you, O God, Redeemer of the world. Give us the humility to find hope and comfort in the known and unknown, the certain and the confusing. As you are with us now, be with us forever. Amen.